Old man’s beard (Clematis vitalba)
Dear Readers, I have searched long and hard for this plant in East Finchley, only to find it in abundance when I did my Greenwich Peninsula Ecology Park walk a few weeks ago. It is our only native clematis, and has a variety of vernacular names. The sixteenth-century writer and herbalist John Gerard christened it ‘traveller’s-joy’ :
‘These plants have no use in physick as yet found out, but are esteemed only for pleasure, by reason of the goodly shadow which they make with their thick bushing and climbing, as also for the beauty of the flowers, and the pleasant scent or savour of the same’.
The fluffy ‘hair-do’ seedheads are indeed a delight, and the flowers, though small, can be extremely abundant. I’ve never savoured the scent, but they are said to smell faintly of almond.
Old man’s beard flowers (Photo One)
The plant is a member of the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) and is found in the UK roughly south of a line from the Mersey to the Humber. It has been widely planted in other places, however, and is considered invasive in countries such as New Zealand. Left to its own devices, it can form a thick canopy that shades out other plants. However, in the UK it is the sole foodplant of several species of moths, including the small emerald, small waved umber and Haworth’s pug, who help to keep it under control.
Small emerald (Hemistola chrysoprasaria) (Photo Two)
Small waved umber (Horisme vitalbata) (Photo Three)
Haworth’s pug (Eupithecia haworthiata) (Photo Four)
The dry winter stems of old man’s beard have been used as cigarette substitutes, giving old names such as ‘smokewood’ and ‘boy’s bacca’. In Slovenia the stems were was used to tie sheaves of grain together, because it was believed that mice wouldn’t gnaw on them. The stems have also been used to make baskets and rope since the Stone Age.
In Italy, the boiled buds are used in omelettes called ‘Fritatta di vitalbini’ and are considered a delicacy.
Frittata di vitalbine (Photo Five)
In spite of Gerard’s belief that the plant was not used for ‘physick’, a juice made from old man’s beard was used in the nostrils to cure migraine. I find the warning that ‘it can also destroy the mucous membranes’ a little alarming, however, and the Poison Garden website describes it as follows:
‘Ingestion leads to severe abdominal pain, gastrointestinal irritation and has caused death in cattle though it is not usually eaten because it has an acrid taste and contact can cause skin irritation‘.
In short, old man’s beard is a plant to be used well-boiled, or not at all.
The Bittersweet Gourmet website describes how
‘ medieval beggars and mendicant friars would enlist vitalba’s venomous qualities to bring about sores on the skin, to achieve a more pitiable appearance before those potentially charitable souls whom they passed on the road‘.
In French, the plant is known as ‘herbe aux geaux‘, or rascal’s herb, so presumably this effect was well known across the plant’s range.
From a folkloric point of view, old man’s beard bears a double meaning, as is so often the way. It was said by countryfolk to do the devil’s work, because it smothered other plants and killed them. It is also associated with the Virgin Mary and with God because of its white flowers, and another vernacular name for the plant is ‘Virgin’s bower’. I can well imagine resting on a bed of these fluffy white seedheads, or reclining among the sweet-scented flowers.
I have been quite remiss on the poetry front for this past few weeks, but here’s a piece by Edward Thomas to make up for it. He really is one of the best of England’s poets with regard to his appreciation of the countryside. ‘A mouthful of earth to remedy all’, indeed.
The Sign-Post
Photo Credits
Photo One by By Hectonichus – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15699562
Photo Two by By ©entomartIn case of publication or commercial use, Entomart wishes then to be warned (http://www.entomart.be/contact.html), but this without obligation. Thank you., Attribution, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=293985
Photo Three by By ©entomartIn case of publication or commercial use, Entomart wishes then to be warned (http://www.entomart.be/contact.html), but this without obligation. Thank you., Attribution, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=823634
Photo Four by By Donald Hobern from Canberra, Australia – Eupithecia haworthiata, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5000120
Photo Five from http://ricettetoscane.altervista.org/frittata-di-vitalbini.html
This is such a lovely plant and is in abundance where we walk. It is a plant that has interesting different stages and you can definitely smell it before you can see it with a lovely sweet perfume. It has a habit, if it can’t scramble over something, to run along the ground and root. Times out of number we have got our feet caught in it and gone flying, once with Bobby going face down with a wallop and ending up with a nose like Mr. Punch 😁
Ah, maybe it does do the devil’s work after all…poor Bobby !
I like the line ‘Standing upright out in the air’. I’d not come across this one but how typical of Thomas it is, with its sense of place and of time, both past and future. Poor man, he got his mouthful of earth in WW1.
I know……
We have our own native species of clematis. Native enthusiasts really like, but it is not as pretty as most. I think that the seeds are more prominent than the blooms are. Those from your region are more interesting. One of my favorites happens to be North American though, but from way up north in Minnesota and Canada and such.
Clematis sp. are really popular as garden plants here, especially Clematis montana and the big-flowered varieties like Clematis jackmanii and Clematis sieboldii. I’ve always found them rather short-lived though….
That is why we do not often bother with the Clematis jackmanii and Clematis sieboldii cultivars. However, Clematis montana rox!
It rocks, and rolls, and covers everything in sight – my neighbours had a Clematis montana that they’d trained over both of their doorways and bay windows, it was absolutely glorious. In fact I’m thinking of getting one meself….
How odd that I know the seed-heads very well yet had never seen the flowers! Aren’t they pretty?
Yep, I’ve never seen it in flower. I must pay more attention!
Surprised you don’t mention its alternative name Traveller’s Joy, so fitting for a climber that decorates the hedgerows for the delight of passers-by.
Umm, Natasha, have a look at the first paragraph….
The Edward Thomas poem also calls it ‘traveller’s joy’.